The Hero's Return
by biggieSMALLS
Summary: Time is different in Ogygia. A half-hour spent on the island fast forwards Leo to a time which is strange and alien to him. As soon as he lands in CHB, he cannot bear the news revealed to him. He loves Calypso with all his heart, and now he'll need her to help him through the sudden hell his life has become. He needs her to adjust, and help him adjust into this strange new reality.


**I don't own Percy or his friends. I tried to keep the OC's to a minimum, but it was hard due to the nature of the plot. Ignore The Trials of Apollo. (I haven't read it yet anyways). Yes, I shamelessly copied some of the original dialogue in Blood of Olympus. Sorry**

* * *

Time is different in magical places. The Lotus Casino felt like two months for Nico and Bianca di Angelo, but actually was seventy years. Tartarus felt like eternity for Percy and Annabeth, but it was but a few days. Ogygia was somewhat of a cross between the two. It was Calypso's home, and prison. It was heaven and hell rolled into one luxurious island. Calypso looked up at the sky, and it remained the same as it always had been, blue, partially cloudy, and with good wind. Calypso sighed; it was the perfect weather, but she wanted it to change. She wanted something new, and above all, she wanted to leave Ogygia. Alas, she could not. It was her curse to remain on the island, and fall in love with every hero that passed through. Sometimes the heroes loved her back, like Odysseus, but he could never stay. Suddenly she heard a distinct metallic sound, as if wings made of metal were flapping right above her. She looked and saw a huge dragon, and on its back was the scrawniest, most annoying son of Hephaestus she had fallen in love with, Leo Valdez. He flew over her beach and started whooping so loud, they probably heard him down in Erebus. As he tried to land, The dragon crashed into the ocean, dropping Leo into water, and making him eat seaweed.

Calypso smirked. "You're late." Leo grinned and said, "Sorry, Sunshine Traffic was murder."

After a conversation with Leo, she sat on Festus's back, and Leo lead the dragon away. Away from Ogygia, and away from what was once her home. Calypso flew into an exciting and dangerous world, one she hadn't seen in a few millenniums. She was silently scared, but she had trust in Leo. After all, he had found her twice, a feat not even the greatest of heroes had managed. Perhaps, she thought, she didn't need the greatest of heroes. Maybe she just needed a Leo.

* * *

Hazel could not stop the tears from flowing. Neither could the rest of the seven, but Hazel had an especially hard time. She felt as if though it were her fault. She complied with Leo's plan that had gotten him killed. She rested her head on Frank's shoulder. She could not watch as Nyssa and her cabin-mates brought out the chain link metal shroud. Nyssa had told her that in Cabin Nine, the shrouds were almost always different. The chain link went to those in the Cabin who had heroically sacrificed themselves, as opposed to falling in battle. In her life, she had only burned two. One belonged to Charles Beckendorf, and the other to Leo Valdez. The Romans stood by their Greek counterparts, and watched respectfully, as the empty shroud burned, dissolving into the air. Hazel wept. There wasn't even a body.

The funeral took two weeks after Leo's actual death. The reparations and rogue monsters still inside the boundaries took time to cleanse. Hazel and Nico figured that would've been enough time for Leo to cross the Styx, and have been judged, and put into Elysium. Nico agreed to search for Leo in Elysium, but when he didn't find him there he was confused. He asked the guards to search for Leo in the line to judgement, and even E-Z Death, but to no avail. In desperation he searched DOA Recording Studios. His spirit was nowhere to be found. Nico even asked his father if he knew where Leo was, but Hades gave him a curt reply. "I do not keep track of every death in the world, child. I am sorry you lost your friend, but I cannot have you running around and searching for a hero in the Underworld. All I know is that there haven't been any demigods in Asphodel, because they all wen back to the mortal world."

"But, Leo couldn't have gone back, Father! He died, and I felt it."

"Perhaps he is in the Fields," Hades snarled. He was the King. He had important businesses to attend to, he could not waste time entertaining this whim of his son's.

Nico returned to the mortal world, bearing the bad news that he couldn't find Leo anywhere.

"Can't you summon him to this world?" Percy asked. Nico had gathered the rest of the Seven, plus Grover, Reyna, and Rachel. Nico shook his head. "After I summoned my mother, Father forbade me from summoning spirits for a year, at the very least. Besides, I need to know where to summon him _from_. He is not in Asphodel, Elysium, or the Fields. He's not even on line. The only explanation is that he didn't die, which is impossible, or that he went for rebirth."

"That makes sense," Rachel spoke. They all looked at her with surprise. "What?" Rachel said defensively, "look, he made a vow, didn't he? A vow to return to Ogygia." Piper and Hazel nodded, and Piper asked "How did you know?"

"Duh, I'm the Oracle. Anyways, if Leo couldn't complete his vow in this lifetime, perhaps he went for rebirth, looking to complete his vow in the next, or the one after that." Nico nodded along. "That makes sense, but it's risky. I've heard stories of people who went for rebirth and made a vow on the Styx they couldn't complete. The vow is still held against them in judgement, even if they have no memory of it."

"What does that mean for Leo," Piper asked. Nico shrugged.

Over the next few days, Hazel was too subdued. Piper and Jason mourned their friend. Percy and Annabeth mourned too, but they eventually moved on. Frank was on the same page as Hazel. Initially, he had resented Leo. Now he felt as though a piece of him died in the explosion as well. He felt partially responsible for Leo's death, but Hazel felt more than he did. Eventually she accepted Leo's death, and celebrated him as a hero, the savior of Olympus, of h=demigods and heroes, and of the world. Most of all though, Hazel celebrated him as a friend, as the great grandson of Sammy, who had brought light and humor, into her otherwise humorless world. The world would remember Leo Valdez.

* * *

Chiron walked the length of the beach another time. He felt a sense of foreboding, as if another trial was coming his way. He drew is bow and notched an arrow in it. Suddenly, with alls the power his horse leg could muster, he ran. He ran so fast that the earth seemed to bend around him. At top speed, he let his arrow fly as he passed the archery range. He didn't look, but it het the red spot exactly in the middle. He made it to the Big House where a camper was waiting for him. He kneeled out of respect, even though Chrion had forbidden him from doing so.

"Sir, I received reports of a threat on the boundaries of the camp, so I went to check it out myself. Chiron, the monster, it was huge. It has wings of Celestial Bronze, and it breathes fire. It looks like on of Hephaestus's automatons, but it has two riders."

Chiron paled. "It ccan't be," he muttered, "he died. I saw him...we all saw him die." The hero stood up, looking at Chiron expectantly. "What are our orders sir?"

"Wait. let the rider land, and keep your weapons at the ready, but do not fire. I wish to speak to this rider. Call Mr. D. I know he only has a few decades left on his sentence, and he'll, be grumpy about it, but tell him it is a matter of the upost importance. He will understand. Go, Mr. Jackson." The hero stood up and followed his orders exactly. He called Dionysus out to the field where the dragon had landed, and met with Chiron. "Who is he Chiron? What are you not telling me?"

"You should know, young one, that I confided in your mother almost everything. Now I realized that perhaps I should've let her find out for herself. Maybe the future would've been different."

"You know I hate when you're so cryptic."

"Just watch, little hero."

The camper watched as a scrawny little boy fell of the great drgon that stood in front of him, and the most beautiful girl he had ever seen followed en suite. She had flowing red hair and almond eyes, and pale skin. She wore an Ancient Greek chiton which ended just below her knees, and was held up by a belt made of silver and gold. The scrawny dwarf-kid grinned maniacally and called out. "Behold! The Great Leo Valdez returns. I expect revelries of the most epic proportions." Chrion took a step back, as if the kid had shot him between the eyes. The campers held their bowstrings and swords tighter, awaiting orders. When Leo did not get a reaction, he scanned the crowd, and spotted Chiron. He made his way towards him but was stopped by two armed campers. Chiron held up his hand, signaling for the warriors to lower their weapons. Chr\iron inched his way towards Leo. "Is that really you my boy?"

Leo nodded. "Of Course it is! Who else would it be? Now, where are Piper, Jason, Hazel, and them? I want to introduce them to Calypso."

Calypso waved her hand timidly. Chiron looked at Leo as if he hadn't seen him on a century. Leo dismissed this. He had expected some time to pass. He looked at the camper next to Chiron. "Hey, you look a bit like my friend Percy," Leo said. He didn't notice him tense as he said the hero's name. "Are you another son of Poseidon or something? Maybe you know where he is. Who are you by the way?"

"The camper hesitated, then he spoke. "I'm Paul Jackson. I was named for my fathers step father. It seems as though you know...knew him." Leo blanched. The usage of the past tense did not pass him. He had expected time to pass. He left Ogygia as quickly as possible so that not too much time would pass. He expected a few months, maybe years, but this...

Leo turned to Chiron. "Are they...was I too late? How...how, how, how?" Leo kept on repeating that. Calypso made her way towards Leo, and tried to soothe him. "Perhaps," Chiron finally spoke, "we should talk at the Big House." At that moment, Dionysus angrily grumbled his way to the crowd accumulated at the area that he was summoned to. When he saw Leo, Dionysus shuddered. "You, it's impo-impo-impossible," the god stuttered. "You died in a fiery inferno. We couldn't find your body! The largest piece recovered was a badly burnt eyeball, and that belonged to the Roman suicide bomber!"

The other campers were evidently confused by Dionysus's rambling. They knew he was talking about the war with Gaea, but they learned the story like they would read the stories of ancient heroes. They laughed, cried, and rooted for their favorite characters, but it never felt real to them. They never experienced it. Only a handful of them even met veterans from the old battle. Paul knew, because he was the offspring of two veterans. He knew every horrifying, grotesque detail of the war. He was glad not to have witnessed the Titan War, and the Giant war. Everybody was frozen in their respective places, so the young legacy took initiative. He moved forward, grabbed Leo and Calypso by the arm and led them to the Big House. Chiron in Dionysus followed. He instructed Cabin Nine to take care of the dragon. It was obviously an automaton.

The five sat around a large mahogany desk in Chiron's 'office'. Leo and Calypso sat on comfy leather chairs, while Dionysus and Chiron sat behind the desk on the wooden chair. Paul remained standing by the side of the desk, perpendicular to both sides of the desk. Leo started with the most important question. "How long has it been since I was gone?"

Mr. D answered. "Twenty one years, five months, and two weeks to the day. We all thought you were dead the whole time, and your friend Hailey-" "Hazel," Chiron interrupted. It seemed that Mr. D hadn't been rid of his old habits. "Took it the hardest," Mr. D continued, "but she accepted your death, along with everyone else. Nico even went looking for you in the Underworld, but could not find your soul. We were all convinced that you had gone for rebirth."

"Where have you been?" Chiron asked. Leo gave them the run down. He had only been on Ogygia for about half an hour. He left as quickly as he could because he didn't want his friends to be rid of him for so long. "I expected time to pass. A few months, maybe a year or two. I honestly didn't think this much time would pass. I made repairs to Festus, and traveled the world for a bit. It took around five, maybe six months. Are they...are they all dead?"

Chiron did not look him in the face. Paul, however, knew what Leo was talking about, so he replied when neither Chiron, nor Mr. D did. "My father, Percy, and my mother, Annabeth, they spoke highly of you. They said you sacrificed yourself to save the world. The rest of the Seven did as well. I was there when my parents died. It was ten years ago, when I was 7 years old. We were camping in the woods upstate when a hydra attacked. I have no doubt that they could've overcome the monster, because they survived Tartarus. Unfortunately, my mother was pregnant at the time. She couldn't move as well as she could. My father had to protect the two, sorry, three of us. If he was alone, he could've beaten it, but because he was burdened by me, he died, and my mother along with him. My unborn sister didn't make it either. I was rescued by luck coincidence, by two mortal hunters. I came back to camp."

Just thinking about it brought tears to the eyes of everyone in the room. Leo felt something bubble inside him. Percy Jackson, the hero who had overcome the Titan Lord, an army of monsters, giants, and a civil war, the hero who had slain the Minotaur with his bare hands, the one who many generations would admire for eons to come, had fallen at the hands of a hydra, something he had fought before. And Annabeth, she had died pregnant. Leo broke out into sobs. He did not want to hear more. Unfortunately he had to. "Jason," Paul continued, "went relatively peacefully, he had a stroke in his sleep. Piper, however, was too attached to her husband. After his death Piper grieved so much that she refused food or drink. she wasted away in grief. Her last words were 'I wish that I had the chance to say goodbye to him. I wish he told me he was going to die.' She was talking about you." Leo tried to hide his face. He didn't want them to see his tears. He failed. Paul persisted on telling him of his friends' destiny. "Frank Zhang fell in battle. A rebellion amongst the ranks of the legion had erupted. Many legacies who had not fought in the battle wanted to cut off the Greeks. They wanted to attack Camp Half-Blood and raze it to the ground and salt the earth. It was chaos, and somehow, the secret of Frank's firewood had gotten out. Perhaps the rebels had spies. They ambushed Hazel and stole the firewood. They kidnapped Frank out of his bed. Frank and Reyna had succeeded in quelling the rebels with minimal casualties, but these guys were not happy. They kidnapped Frank and burned the firewood in front of his eyes. To add insult to his death, they let him hold the firewood, and as he frantically tried to extinguish the flame, he died. The assassins were executed by the legion. Reyna retired from the legion and led a quiet life with Nico, until they too, passed. Hazel-"

"STOP!" Leo yelled. "Stop. Please. I c-can't take anymore." He got up and ran out of the Big House, and made his way across the pavilion, through the sword fighting arena, and the archery range. He ran past the naiads and into the woods. Calypso ran after him. She eventually caught up with a sobbing Leo in the woods. Calypso pulled Leo into an embrace. "I-I can't listen anymore. They are all dead. I didn't even get to s-say goodbye," Leo sobbed.

"It's not your fault, Leo. Your friends, Percy, Annabeth, they all got to lead happy lives because of you Leo. They died, because death is inevitable. It will eventually catch you too, but you must remember that your friends loved you." Calypso pulled Leo's head up and forced him to look into her eyes. " _I_ love you." Leo wiped his tears, and tried to stop crying, but he could not. "The worst part is Hazel. She probably died some gruesome death like Percy, or Frank, and she blamed herself for what happened to me. She died thinking she had let me kill myself."

"Actually," a voice interrupted," she didn't." The couple looked up to see Chiron standing over them. "Hazel is the last remaining member of the Quest, besides you of course. She lived a prosperous life, and even has a son. I contacted her and she said she'd be here in a few hours."

Every emotion known to man washed over Leo. Relief, sorrow, happiness, grief, anger, and shame overwhelmed him so much that he could not narrow his emotions. He opted for collapsing into the grass and resting his head on Calypso's lap. Leo let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

Leo walked back into his old Cabin. It had changed so much; the cabin itself was much bigger, shinier, and more messy. The walls were aligned with more weapons than the armory had back in his day. Once Leo had gone down into the 'Valdez Cave', he saw that they excavated the tunnel as well. Nobody had slept in his bed since he was gone, but they cleaned up nicely. It wasn't even dusty when Leo saw it. Maybe they were too scared to lie in a bed that had been claimed by two heroes who died in a blazing explosion.

Leo grabbed a fresh change of clothes, courtesy of Chiron, and changed in the privacy of the Valdez cave. He washed his hair with shampoo, and his body with jasmine soap. He always loved the smell of jasmine. Leo combed back his hair, which had grown since he left the Wilderness School. He hadn't cut it since. Now that Leo thought about it, he hadn't cut his hair in over two decades. Leo smiled at that. Leo wore a freshly ironed button down shirt, and dark blue jeans. He fitted his toolbelt around his waist, popped a couple of breathmints, and went on his way. He met with Calypso in front of the Big House. Hazel was due any minute now. Calypso and Leo waited nervously on the leather couch in the Big House. Fifteen minutes later, an old black woman with curly black hair with a bunch of white strands randomly thrown in walked in. She wore a purple T-shirt, and blue jeans. Her eyes gleamed the most magnificent color of gold, but they also let a bit of sadness glow. When the woman looked at Leo, her eyes glinted with pleasure and she rushed towards him and hugged him. Leo didn't recognize her at first, but as soon as the lady pulled him into an embrace, he did a mental face-palm. Hazel would be forty something by now. Well, technically speaking, she was over a century old. Hazel pulled back and kissed Leo on the cheek.

"You look nice for a hundred and nineteen year old," Leo said. Hazel lightly punched him on the shoulder. "You look pretty young too, considering you should be in your late thirties."

"Ah, you know. You spend half an hour in Ogygia, and come back two decades later. Anyways, I'd like you to meet Calypso. Well, I would've like everybody to meet her, but you know..."

Hazel looked at Leo's lover, and, shockingly, pulled her into an embrace as well. "Oh, Leo would never shut up about you. After he came back fro your island the first time, he kept ranting about how beautiful you were, and how he was going to find you again and all that." Calypso and Leo blushed simultaneously. "In fact, Leo described you in such vivid detail, I managed to make a portrait of you. According to Leo I got your nose wrong." Hazel then closely examined Calypso's nose. "I guess he was right."

"That's very flattering, Hazel. Do you mind if I see it?" Calypso asked.

"Oh, I would absolutely _love_ to show you, but I left it in New Rome with my son, Elijah, in New Rome."

"What!?" Leo mocked indignation, "you named your child Elijah, instead of naming him after me, the greatest hero that has ever lived! I saved the world, and I don't get one child named after me!"

Hazel laughed. "I wanted to name him after you, honestly, but Frank thought that naming the baby Leo would be too painful for the rest. They'd have to call your name for our child." Leo grinned like a fool. "It feels so weird, Hazel. I felt as though only a few weeks had passed since I left Ogygia. The war with Gaea is still fresh in my memory, as if it happened yesterday, because it _did_. I come here to see that the world has moved on. Percy and Annabeth and Frank and Jason and Piper and even Reyna and Nico are all partying up in heaven, waiting on you. They think that I'm someone else, someone reborn into the world. I...I can't comprehend it."

Calypso moved to Leo, placing her hand on his shoulder for comfort. Leo grabbed it. "I know it's hard," Hazel replied, "but it was hard for us too. You were a part of our hearts, Leo. Frank and I couldn't handle your death for months. I understand your sacrifice. It just took me a long time to comprehend it. It took me time to adjust to a world without you. Then again with Percy, and Annabeth. The cycle repeated itself until even Frank had died. And I blamed myself for all of it. I blamed myself for killing you, for not being there for Percy and Annabeth, for not protecting Frank's firewood hard enough. I knew none of it was my fault, but I couldn't stop the grief. Seeing you, Leo, alive and well, and with your true love, it helped me, it truly has. You healed my dying heart. Although we may never be the same again, just know that there are people out there who still love you. You aren't alone." Leo wiped his cheeks, and smirked. "I never was Hazel. I just now begin to realise that."

Leo turned around and kissed Calypso passionately. It was kind of an awkward sight, because Leo was shorter (though not by a lot), but Hazel knew that Calypso was for him.

"Come on guys, let's go to New Rome. You can finally meet Elijah. I've told him so much about you that he began to question...well, never ind. You'll see."

* * *

Like that, Leo and Calypso lived out there days. Hazel died seven years later. Someone with a grudge did her in. Leo became so enraged that once he and Elijah found the perpetrator, Leo burned him alive. After that he vomited. Leo fought alongside Percy Jackson, and Hazel Levesque. Now he had the honor of fighting with their sons. Leo, Paul and Elijah made a devastating team. No legionnaire or camper had gone through without hearing their names. Soon enough, Calypso and Leo became two way ambassadors, traveling between camps, and restoring peace when there was unrest. Calypso went up to Olympus sometimes, along with Paul and Elijah. Leo could never do it. He could never look at the Olympians in the eye, knowing that they inadvertently cause the huge fuck up which resulted in Leo's even more fucked up situation. A few years later, Leo found out Calypso was pregnant. He proposed on the spot. The little girl came out with ease, and looked int her father's eyes.

"Esperanza," he said, "you will have your grandmother's courage, your mother's spirit, and your father's awesome-ly amazing sense of humour."

"Do you want our daughter to lead a humorless life then?" Calypso joked. Leo just smiled. At that moment, everything was perfect. Eleven months later, Calypso was pregnant again. He got the message through IM, because he was in Camp Half-Blood, while Calypso was in New Rome. Leo was walking down the streets of Manhattan. Chiron had arranged a meeting with some kids who claimed to be Egyptian gods. Leo had an uneasy feeling about it, but because his wife was pregnant, he had to attend. Leo walked in front of the Empire State Building. He looked up, and stared. It was nighttime, so he shouldn't have been able to see anything. Perhaps he didn't. Maybe it was his imagination, but it was like he could see the whole city of Olympus up there. Leo kept on walking. He walked past a seemingly deserted alleyway. He took a glance in, and suddenly, time slowed. It was as if Kronos had stopped time to savour this moment when the last remaining hero of Olympus truly felt fear.

Three teenagers jumped out of the alley. One had a gun, another a long hunting blade, and the last one had a bike chain twirling in his hand. Leo frowned. They didn't look like monsters. They were human, though he didn't know if they were demigods or regular mortals. The guy with the gun pointed it at Leo.

"Give me your money old man!" he yelled.

"Am I really that old?" Leo wondered allowed. "Maybe it's cause I'm twenty years older than I feel" Leo laughed at his own joke.

"This guy's crazy," Bike-Chain yelled.

"I was crazy from the beginning, kid." Leo said.

"Enough talk." Knife-guy said.

The kid with the gun aimed the gun at Leo so he stared straight down the barrel. Leo's heart thumped. They were serious about killing him, he realized. He didn't want to die. Not because he feared death, but because he didn't want his children to lead the same life he did. Leo reached into his toolbelt. He should've had some loose change in there. Instead, all he pulled out was a denarii, two drachmas, a rubberband, and a dog whistle. His robber's eyes widened when the saw the gold. Unfortunately, Leo saw the gleam in the kid's eye too late. A loud bang echoed in the streets, and the shell of the bullet clanged to the floor. Leo clutched his abdomen, and realized he had been shot. He fell to the floor. Time went slower. The coins dropped out of his hands. "Calypso," he muttered. "Take care of them." Another bang, and Leo's spirit left his body.

* * *

For the second time, the chain link shroud burned. This time it wasn't Nyssa, but another daughter of Hephaestus, Rebecca, who burned it. Paul said ggodbye to his father's friend, _his_ friend, one last time. Elijah was nowhere to be seen, but everybody knew he was crying in the woods. It was he who discovered Leo's body before mortal authorities could discover it. Calypso held her daughter's hand, and held her son in the other. They all wept as Leo Valdez, son of Esperanza, savior of Olympus, burned. He was all those things, but more importantly, he was a caring husband, a loving father, and the best friend anybody could ever have. Above all, he was Leo Valdez.

* * *

Leo got off the boat, and landed safely on the other side without getting the black water on him. "Thanks for getting me across." He was back in his sixteen year old body again for some reason.

"No problem. You got a friend in high places. Well, two. They said we should let you cross for free," the old daimon said.

"Well thanks anyway."

"Don't thank me yet young hero."

Leo walked to the judgement line, but the guards ushered him to the front. Leo sat through his trial, which was pretty long because they had to consider _all_ his feats. They claimed that just that one quest to save Juno/Hera could've granted him Elysium, but it was procedure to go through everything. Eventually, Leo mad his way to the gates of Elysium. He was led through a bunch of shades dressed in WWII fatigues and CHB T-shirts. The gates were magnificent and huge. They were made of bronze and gold, and reached the top of the underworld. The lock was padded with pearls and emeralds. Leo cared little for the appearance. He could just make out his friend's voices inside. A shade knocked thrice on the door. The gates swung open with astonishing speed. Leo rushed in and ran. He ignored the people trying to give him pamphlets, or give him the orientation, or even offering him wine. He ran to the beach where he was greeted by all of his friends, and they were all smiling at him.

"Where have you been man?" Jason asked, still grinning.

"We missed you." That was Percy. Leo stared at each one of his friends. His eyes rested on Hazel and Frank, and he broke out laughing. "Damn. I never thought I'd see you again. Hey, Annabeth. I fought alongside your son. Yours too Hazel. They are awesome. I have kids of my own too now."

"Really?" Piper smirked, "with who?"

"Calypso. Maybe you'll get to meet my family. Hopefully not for a long long time." Leo replied. Percy looked at Leo then embraced him.

"Come on Leo. Maybe you can liven up this party," Percy said.

"I don't think I can do that. After all, we _are_ all dead."

The seven, plus Nico and Reyna laughed. Leo was finally with his friends again.

* * *

 **So I ship Reynico, so what? Anyways, I hope you like reading this as much as I loved writing it. It's just a oneshot. Review, please. It'll help me improve my writing. Oh, and according to some myths, Calypso had two children with Odysseus. Just putting that out there. She was also a nymph, the daughter of Atlas.**


End file.
